Newsprint
Open in tool →Ink-black on warm paper with a single red — the broadsheet hierarchy that lets typography lead.
Color
#b9221d
#b9221d
hex
#b9221drgb
rgb(185, 34, 29)hsl
hsl(2, 73%, 42%)oklch
oklch(0.509 0.187 28.2)Closest name: Bloodshed (#ba271a)Relative luminance 0.1155
Colors that go with #b9221d
Royal Blue, Steel Blue and Teal lead the list. Each partner is a real named colour with the reason it works — a wheel relationship, a neutral that carries it, or a pairing lifted from a palette or brand system that actually shipped — and every pair opens in the palette tool.
Royal Blue #4169e1
triadicshippedRoyal Blue completes a triad with #b9221d — three hues spaced evenly round the wheel, the classic way to get energy into a palette without a clash.
Steel Blue #4682b4
split-complementshippedSteel Blue is a split-complement of #b9221d: nearly opposite, so it still pops against it, without the vibrating edge of a true complement.
Teal #008080
complementaryshippedTeal sits directly opposite #b9221d on the wheel — the strongest contrast one hue can give another, so use it small: a button, a link colour, one highlight.
Amber #ffbf00
shippedAmber is paired with #b9221d in 6 real palettes, including Maple and Ember, as the accent.
Blue #0000ff
shipped4 real palettes, including Tim Hortons's brand system and Dunkin''s brand system put Blue beside #b9221d, as the accent.
Charcoal #36454f
neutralshippedCharcoal is the body-text near-black for #b9221d: its slight blue cast keeps type crisp beside a warm colour where pure #000 looks heavy.
Cobalt Blue #0047ab
shippedDesigners have shipped Cobalt Blue with #b9221d: 4 real palettes, including MLB's brand system and Behance's brand system, as the accent.
Dark Olive Green #556b2f
shippedDark Olive Green shows up next to #b9221d in 6 real palettes, including Olive Grove and BrandSweets's brand system, as the lead colour.
Real palettes that use #b9221d
Tints & shades
Harmonies
Contrast
| #b9221d as text | Ratio | AA | AA large | AAA | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aaon white | 6.35:1 | pass | pass | fail |
|
Aaon black | 3.31:1 | fail | pass | fail |
Fixes keep hue and saturation and move lightness only, so the suggestion stays on-brand. Ratios are symmetric: the same numbers apply with #b9221d as the background.
Brands using this color
Palettes built around it
Fonts for this mood
#b9221d reads as warm, vivid, playful. The font library is tagged with the same vocabulary:
mcpConnect your agent — build around #b9221d
live endpointPoint any MCP client at the shared colors endpoint and your agent gets the same engine as this page — direct_palette, edit_direction, check_palette, check_contrast — read-only, no key. Every direction it proposes comes with a /colors/d/… link: open it, lock what you like, paste the link back, and the agent edits rather than re-rolls.
endpoint
https://mcp.brandsweets.com/colors/mcpclaude mcp add --transport http brandsweets-colors https://mcp.brandsweets.com/colors/mcp
try this prompt
›analyze #b9221d and generate a 5-color palette that keeps it as the primary; give me the /palettes/new link
tool url
/palettes/new/b9221d-c4a29c-62cb9c-2d261f-f1e9ed?lock=0&style=vibrantWant the agent to remember your picks and write them into a living brand? Create a free BrandSweets workspace.
Machine-readable: color.md